DOCUMENT RESUME ED 423 557 CS 509 901 AUTHOR von Raffler-Engel, Walburga TITLE The Function of Nonverbal Behavior in Television Reporting in the United States of America. PUB DATE 1998-12-00 NOTE 25p.; Paper presented at the Conference on Gestures (Besancon, France, December 1998). PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Body Language; Case Studies; *Cultural Context; Media Research; *News Reporting; North American Culture; Social Change; *Television IDENTIFIERS Behavior Descriptions; Journalists; *Nonverbal Behavior; Research Suggestions; Television History; *Television News; Vanderbilt University TN ABSTRACT This paper postulates that the television media in the United States is reflecting the country's culture-at-large. To be marketable, photojournalists adjust their nonverbal behavior to the cultural changes of the time. To prove the point, documentation culled from the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive is provided from the three major networks during the period 1968-1998. Future research could perhaps determine the impact of societal changes on the television performers. (NKA) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** 1 The function of nonverbal behavior in television reporting in the United States of America Walburga von Raffler-Engel Vanderbilt University Institute for Public Policy Studies (U.S.A.) Abstract The paper postulates that the television media in the United States of America is reflecting this country's culture-at-large. To be marketable, photojournalists adjust their nonverbal behavior to the cultural changes of the time. Documentation to prove the point is provided from the three major networks during the period 1968-1998. Resumé Cet article pose la these que le comportement des presentateurs a la television des Etats Unis réfléchit le comportement de la population generale du même temps. Leur comportement change avec le temps tant que chez la population generale. La these est documentée en analysant le comportements des présentateurs des trois chanels principaux durant les années 1968 a 1998. Introduction The research I am presenting is part of the area of pragmatics which can be broadly defined "as a cognitive, social, and cultural perspective on language and communication" (6th International Pragmatics Conference 1998: 70). My research in nonverbal behavior is based on the dynamic paradigm governing all aspects of living which, by definition, are in constant flux and mutual interaction. As Labov has so well expressed this concept for spoken language, it represents "an approach in which language is viewed not as a static structure but as a dynamic social system, which is continuously moving, changing, interacting, and working" (Meeuwis 1998). PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND a DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improveentm EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION W CENTER (ERIC) %NsdOcument has been reproduced as received from the person or organization onginatmg it TO THE EDUCATIONAL RES RCES 0 Minor changes have been made to improve INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) reproduction quality. 1 a Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official 2 OERI position or policy. i 2 Looking at a particular gesture in isolation is an artifact of the analysis. In the naturalness condition, the entire body participates in the conversational expression and the meaning is purveyed through the gesture cluster (von Raffler-Engel 1996: 296). This does not mean that throughout the history of gestural expression clusters necessarily change in their entirety. Change in nonverbal behavior parallels change in spoken language which manifests vowel change, word change, grammatical change as well as change in pragmatics, that is change in usage. Equally, parallel to verbal discourse, the sequence and the combinatory arrangement of gesture clusters is culture-specific and varies over time. Like vocabulary items, specific gestures are mostly stable even though some gestures, same as words, may become obsolete or change in meaning. Discourse, that is the meaningful sequential combination of spoken language and nonverbal expression, the speed with which it occurs, its intensity and its loudness are determined by the social rules of the occasion and the psychological state of the communicator. The latter are governed by how the culture-at-large defines each particular event depending on its degree of formality, the familiarity among the participants and their homogeneity or diversity with regard to sex, education, profession, social status, to name a few. We know that the perception and the reaction to the above-mentioned conditions differ among cultures and sub-cultures. What has been explored to a far lesser degree is how gestural behavior changes over time within an identical sub-culture. 3 3 What I have observed in my studies is that over a short period of time the basic configuration of each gesture tends to remain stable. What changes is its frequency and its forcefulness and the increase or decrease of the parts constituting the gesture cluster. Change can also come when the energy the communicator puts into a stable configuration of nonverbal behavior decreases or increases in its repetitiveness, like in eye blinking or head nodding. Purpose My research is not concerned with the content of what is shown on television nor with advertisements or plays.It is restricted to the analysis of the nonverbal behavior of anchormen and reporters.I will show that their gestural behavior reflects the corresponding behavior of the population-at-large.It may reinforce the mannerisms of its time, but it does not create them. Newspapers and television are designed to sell. They give the consumers what they are likely to buy. Murphy Brown has not invented unmarried motherhood, she simply shows the mores of the time. When the nonverbal behavior of the population-at-large undergoes modifications, the television presenters follow suit.This parallels the use of vocabulary that has changed in meaning. Reporting on a meeting of gays has nothing to do with whether these people were happy or sad. The media does not create the culture, it reflects it in order to retain marketability. Contact sports are violent. People pay to see them. Television reflects culture.It does not create culture. At most, it reinforces it.Violence is part of present-day American culture. My research will show how changes in the society-at-large are reflected on the television screen. 4 I 4 In this paper my research is restricted to the nonverbal behavior of one particular category of television personalities and a very conservative one, anchors and reporters. Television presenters, like actors, are paid depending on their ratings. The manner in which they report, how they look and how they dress has to be appealing to the viewers. Most of all, they have to be believable. For this reason, in a certain sense, the viewers have to identify with them. They have to fit their culture. The model is not the announcer but the viewer. Advertisers know this very well. Their TV ads fit the culture and the sub-culture and constantly adopt to changes. On American TV, beer guzzling sports fans used to be all Anglo males and now we see minorities and women. For research on cultural differences in advertising see a paper I presented in Seoul over a decade ago (von Raffler-Engel 1986).I wanted to expand this type of research, but my university was not ready to fund it neither in time release nor research assistance.I have since retired and continued this research on my own with the cooperation of a Japanese university.It should be ready for publication in a couple of years. Preliminary Research Being involved in nonverbal research as well as in cross-cultural communication I was an avid watcher of television in whichever country I happened to be.I took ample notes and occasionally designed some primitive sketches. The observations I made sensitized my understanding of differences in gesticulatory behavior when reporting on very similar events. Analyzing a talk show made it especially clear to me that the television industry depends on 5 5 how well it sells to the public (von Raff ler-Engel 1984). Coherent research became possible only after the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive was established in 1968. With the technology of the late nineties, it is now possible to retrieve video images from wherever their original is stored. This was not possible thirty years ago, and the founding of the Vanderbilt Archive constitutes a milestone. At the time it involved a highly controversial discussion over copyright laws, but, for the good of research, Vanderbilt University came out a winner. The Archive covers the evening news of ABC, CBS and NBC starting in 1968. In October 1989, ABC's Night line with Ted Koppel was added and in 1995, coverage was extended to CNN World View. In addition to these standard reports, the Archive also provides special coverage for unpredictable events of importance such as presidential debates. The copies are in black and white only until 1978 when the Archive finally could afford color, which is very expensive. I used the Archive extensively during the years I taught Nonverbal Communication and, of course, I watched the news in the evening at home.I became curious about the impact of the sixties on the behavior of the television announcers. At that time, all around me I saw that the students started dressing for classes like they were going for a stroll in the countryside and the professors seldom showed up with formal ties. Hand gesticulation increased and facial expression became more animated. Before that time, if I well recall, official speakers on television did not move their heads 6 6 sideways. All they did was move their heads up and down.